Krejza denies he’s the fall guy in Doherty’s rise to Oz Ashes squad

SYDNEY - Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza has quashed speculation that it was because he had fallen out with Tasmania’s hierarchy which resulted in Xavier Doherty’s remarkable rise to the Ashes squad.

Doherty’s had cemented his spot above Krejza in Tasmania’s first-class team following intense speculation that the latter had fallen foul of Tasmanian captain George Bailey and coach Tim Coyle.

“This is frustrating me, and it’s still going on even when I’m not playing. That comment about Xavier being a team player got turned around. My old man reads the newspaper and he is the first one to call me, he gets upset and that is the most frustrating thing, when it affects the people that I love like my family,” the Age quoted Krejza, as saying.

“I got called by my brother after I got dropped [from the Test side] and he had heard on the radio that me and Ricky didn’t see eye to eye. I called Brett Lee and Shane Watson, who are very good friends of mine, and asked them, ‘Can you tell me if people in the team don’t like me?’ They said, ‘No way’, and told me not to pay attention to it. It was more my dad being upset that concerned me. I do everything I can for the team,” he added.

The 27-year-old further said that Doherty deserves full credit for his selection in the 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test.

“Doherty is having a lot of success at the moment, full credit to him, he has worked really hard and done well. The selectors are doing the best job they can and if their gut feeling is that this is the best team to win this game they have to go with it,” Krejza said.

“I wish Xavier all the best. He will be turning the ball away from most of the England batters, who are right-handers. He is very annoying to face, he is very hard to get away,” he added. (ANI)